Here at Hometown Roofing ATX, we always stress the importance of having your roofing system properly installed from the beginning. A focus on proper installation will ensure your roof is futureproofing early damages and saves you thousands of dollars in the long-run.
Here’s a Q&A with the owners, James Brandon, and his editor.
Have a listen:
What Was This Project About?
The project was a small roof repair on an asphalt roof with leaky skylights. We’ve found this to be a common problem we found in many of the repair projects in Austin, TX, regarding skylights.
Here are some photos of the damages around the skylights:
It’s not to say that if you have a skylight on your roof that it’s going to cause your roof to leak. There is a reason for the leak and it’s not the sjylight itself.
Skylights are an excellent addition to your home and shouldn’t cause repeated leaking issues if it were done correctly.
What we’ve found is that most of the leaking coming from the skylights are due to poor installation and getting it done cheap from a non-professional roofer.
Here’s the thing.
You might get a great deal and the skylight installed, and to your eyes, it may look perfect when it was first installed, but maybe after 3-5 years, your roof starts leaking, and it’s coming from your skylight.
The Breakdown Of The Skylight’s Leak and The Solution:
In this small project, the cause of leakage in the skylight was due to the rotting of the plywood around the edges. We also found improper flashing around the skylights.
Our solution was to remove the old material and properly replaced it with:
- New plywood
- Custom flashing installed
- New shingles around the area
With the new material properly installed, it won’t cause the homeowner to spend thousands on repair every year.
Here are the after pictures:
What homeowners should keep in mind, and for those planning on adding skylights in the future, is to know the differences between the proper way to install skylights and the wrong way.
The real issue with the skylights leaking for many homeowners can be traced back to poor decisions in who they choose to install their skylights.
Hint: It’s always the cheaper route that ends up biting them in the end.
Think Long-Term Because The Cheap Way Will Make Your Roof & Wallet Bleed
It can be expensive to put skylights put in. So, we understand when homeowners are getting told, “I can do for much cheaper!” It’s much harder to say no.
But what you have to know is, when someone tells you they can do it for cheap, they’re most likely be using cheap materials and cutting corners on your skylights just for them to profit or break-even.
You’ll end up with a skylight that looks nice, but the foundation will wreak havoc on your roof further down the line.
Think about it.
The cost ends up being the same whether you go the cheap route or the expensive route:
- The inexpensive route ($300) will end up costing you nothing in the beginning, but after those multiple costly repairs, it all adds up in total cost to be the same or higher. Repairs aren’t cheap and could go up to thousands.
- A great deal in price at the beginning
- Cheap material
- Cut corners
- Poorly installed
- Lasts 3-5 years and leaks frequently happen even after multiple repairs.
- The expensive route will (1,200) allow for the best:
- materials
- Not cut corners
- Properly and professionally installed
- Last 15 years
The Two Common Ways Roofing Contractors & Non-Roofing Contractors Install Skylights
Flush Mounted Skylights: Also known as deck mounted skylights. These skylights are directly installed into the roof. These skylights are most commonly found on most homes as they are cheaper and don’t require as much labor or framing work as a curb mounted skylights.
The cheaper price and less labor work make it easy for non-roofing professionals and inexperienced roofers to offer it. The issue is they often time install the flashing incorrectly that leads to leaks and rotting of the plywood around the skylight. You think skylights installation is costly, but repairs are just as much, if not more.
Curb Mounted Skylights: Here at Hometown Roofing ATX, we prefer that homeowners choose curb mounted skylights for their roof. It requires more framework and expertise from a professional, experienced, and licensed roofer.
It takes a lot more work to frame everything correctly from the curb to the flashing and shingles around the skylights. Curb mounted skylights is the right way when it comes to skylights for your home. Curb skylights also make it easier to repair in the future.
Is A Non-Roofing Professional Installing Your Roof?
Ask you heard it in our Q&A that most of the time, carpenters will offer to install the skylights for you. Although carpenters understand the framing of the skylights, they do not understand the roofing side of it.
Having a local professional roofer, like us, to install your roof will save you much more money in the long run because the framing is just one part of the skylight installation.
Sure, you may get a good deal for $300, but it’ll end up in a $1,700 repairs in a couple of short years.
Get it done right the first time.
Can Homeowners Use Their Insurance Claim For Skylight Damage?
It depends.
If it’s from poor installation, most likely not.
But if it’s from storm damage? Absolutely. Even if it’s just a small dent from a hail storm, you can get your skylights replaced with your insurance claim.
It is why we stress over and over that proper installation is a must for all your roofing.
What About Financing For Skylights?
Generally, a skylight repair is a low amount, unlike a roof replacement, and we don’t offer to finance for that.
But what we do is offer an honest, fair price and proper installation to prevent future leakage from happening early.
Conclusion
That’s all for this project, Q&A.
We hope you got a ton out of it.
When it comes to your roof, make sure you talk with knowledgable people in the field. If it’s for roofing, speak to an experienced roofer. If it’s for your bathroom, speak to an experienced bathroom remodeler and so on…
If you need a knowledgable residential roofing company to assist with your roofing system, give Hometown Roofing ATX a call today at 512-707-9182 or go through our contact form.
We look forward to working with you!